“This is something that the administration has obviously been watching very carefully since this threat against Mr. Sotloff’s life was originally made a few weeks ago,” said Earnest this afternoon. “Our thoughts and prayers, first and foremost, are with Mr. Sotloff and Mr. Sotloff’s family, and those who worked with him. The United States, as you know, has dedicated significant time and resources to trying and rescue Mr. Sotloff.”

Earnest went on to say, “I’m not in a position to confirm the authenticity of that video or the reports at this point since I obviously just walked out here. If there is a video that has been released, it is something that will be analyzed very carefully by the U.S. government and our intelligence officials to determine its authenticity.”

Sotloff was a freelance journalist and had contributed to TIME, for which Miller is a political reporter. Miller later retweeted a TIME statement by editor Nancy Gibbs, tweeted moments earlier by Andrew Katz.